A Dance for Everafter
by hhooppyy
Summary: "...I don't think I can get up." With a show of acting that would have had Martha groaning along with him, Castle slumped back to the floor, throwing his arm over his closed eyes. "You are going to have to dance without me."     Judges Choice: Best Short Story for the 2012 Castle Fan Awards


Finishing rolling up the large area rug and pushing the last piece of furniture to the side, Castle sat down and pulled a pair of socks over his feet. Feeling the smooth glide of his feet over the wood floor as he experimentally pushed his feet back and forth; Castle stood up and with a running start flew across the floor with a flourish. Grabbing on to the wall just before he fell after stumbling over an invisible piece of fluff, he heard a little giggle and looked up just in time to see his little girl, red hair flying in all directions, running straight at him.

Barreling into his legs, the two of them ended up in a tangle on the floor as the socks that allowed him to slide across the floor also prevented him from staying upright. Laughing heartily at the groan her daddy let out, Alexis sat up and quickly pulled her own socks on and got up. Not wasting any time, she started pulling on Castle's arm, trying to get him off the ground—succeeding only in getting him to sit up.

"C'mon Daddy! You said we could dance."

"That was before you knocked me to the ground. I don't think I can get up." With a show of acting that would have had Martha groaning along with him, Castle slumped back to the floor, throwing his arm over his closed eyes. "You are going to have to dance without me." Unable to resist, Castle quickly opened one eye to peek at the anxious redhead before promptly squeezing it closed again.

"Daaaddddy!" Alexis moaned as she pulled a little harder on the arm she was holding. "Get up!"

"Fine. Fine." Groaning slightly in jest, Castle managed to pull himself to his feet and walk over to the stereo. Hitting play, Castle was momentarily stunned by the overly bright and energetic nature of the first song on their mix CD—a Disney song.

Not waiting for Castle to move away from the stereo, Alexis immediately started flinging her head around, swinging her arms, and, in general, wiggling her body—mostly not in time with the song. Not wanting to miss the out on the fun, Castle once again slid across the floor and started dancing. Grabbing her hands, he started swinging their arms and pulling Alexis around in circles. After several upbeat songs, the music suddenly changed to that of something more suited for a waltz than the aimless dancing they had been doing. Without missing a beat, Castle pulled Alexis up onto his feet and started waltzing her around the room with Alexis throwing her head back in fits of laughter as they spun in circles around the room in their poor impersonation of a box step.

"Dad?"

Shocked by the mature sounding voice coming from his little girl and the feeling of a gentle poke to his shoulder, Castle came to his senses to find that his little girl was no longer so little. Instead, dancing with him was his twenty-five year old daughter, dressed in a gorgeous white wedding gown—simply cut with delicate beading down the front. No longer did she need to stand on his feet as they danced around the room. Instead, she held her own and was even leading him a little when he faltered.

"Where'd you go dad?"

"Huh?" With a slight shake of his head to clear the stupor, Castle pulled Alexis into a tight hug and started dancing with her again—this time leading. "Oh. I was just thinking about when you were little. How we used to have dance parties in the living room. We always listened to the same CD and you always ended up standing on my feet as we waltzed around the room. I miss that."

"You know, you can still do that. I am sure you could find someone to dance around the room with." Alexis said nodding her head in the direction of the little brunette girl sleeping on Kate's lap.

"I'm sure I could, but it wouldn't be the same. Dancing like madmen around the living room was always our thing." Castle noted fondly trying to hold back the tears that had been threatening to fall all day.

"Daddy. I'm sure she would love to do it too. Sharing the experience with her doesn't take away from our memories. It just adds to them."

She smiled teasingly and added, "Plus, you know us Castles. We're always mad! Mad, I tell you!" She added with a slight lilt, impersonating Martha. As she looked up, she can only see her father's jaw as the lolled his head back in loud laughter, the tears quickly forgotten.

-o-O-o-

"C'mon dad. Get up." Looking up from his position on the floor, Castle let out a big laugh as he saw his two beautiful girls, one holding each arm, trying to pull him off the ground.

"Fine. Fine."

* * *

><p>AN: This story was written in response to Kelbelle's prompt of "Alexis and Castle, dancing" in the community Castle_alt on livejournal. Much thanks to my beta-ish for editing this quickly (even if it then took me a week to post it)

This story is a one-shot. Adding it to story alerts is not going to convince me to write more for it. Sorry.


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